The slow-moving storm center that's been hovering around for two days today brought more flood waters to Sandwich, breached the Ballston Beach dunes in Truro and threatened vulnerable Chatham cottages.

- In Sandwich:

River Street in Sandwich was flooded as of 9:30 this morning, as were two houses on the street. Two houses had water completely surrounding them.

This was significant because River Street is about a half-mile from the shore, but the marsh system does back up to the houses that are flooded.

The parking lot at Town Neck Beach, damaged by the February blizzard and yesterday's high tide, was also completely flooded and was closed to traffic.

Only the top of the bridge of the Sandwich Boardwalk is poking up through the water that's flooded the marsh. The road to the boardwalk was closed in advance of high tide.

Sandwich Police Chief Peter Wack said there was flooding in the basement of the town's police station with water coming in through the foundation.

The parking lot at Hemisphere Restaurant on Town Neck Beach Road was drawing a steady stream of cars this morning. Some hardy souls got out of their cars, felt the punishing wind filled with snow, sand and sea foam and quickly retreated to their cars. The parking lot was littered with sand and stones, evidence that some waves have crashed over the sea wall.

- In Truro:

Surging waves ripped through a growing breach in the dunes at Ballston Beach in Truro at high tide this morning. The roaring water dragged sand and debris inland during yesterday morning's high tide as well.

Several spectators watched in the howling wind as seawater poured through the breach into the Pamet River Valley below.

The Ballston Beach parking lot was flooded at high tide.

- In Chatham:

Waves and a high tide appear to have taken a toll on North Beach Island in Chatham. From the Chatham Fish Pier this morning waves looked like they are breaking between some of the five remaining cottages - flattening out the islands profile and overwashing the low dunes into the heart of the island.

The cottages were still standing but appear almost like individual islands from a distance.

Lighthouse Beach also lost a lot of sand from the storm. Most of the beach to the south is underwater and a lagoon has formed cutting deep into the shoreline up to the beach grass covered the dunes.

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Cape power outages - Posted: 9:10 a.m.

There are just more than 300 electric customers on the Cape without power, according to NStar community relations manager Dennis Galvam, who spoke on a conference call with regional emergency planners shortly after 9 this morning. Of those, most were in Hatchville and in South Sandwich, he said.

There are 146 people without power in the area of Brigantine Drive in Hatchville and about 130 without power in the Holly Lane area of South Sandwich, Galvam said, adding that the remainder of the outages are "onesies and twosies."

Those two problems are being addressed and should be fixed soon, Galvam said.

The latest outages can be seen on NStar's online outage map: outagemap.nstar.com/outage/OutageMap.aspx

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Cape, Islands ferry cancellations - Posted 11:10 a.m.

The Steamship Authority has once again canceled its ferry trips this morning into the afternoon due to the storm. Ferries to and from Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have been canceled.

For the latest, go the Steamship Authority's website - www.steamshipauthority.com - or phone: 508.228.0262 or 508.771.4000

High winds also canceled Hy-Line Cruises ferry trips between Hyannis and Nantucket. For more information call: (800) 492-8082

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- Today's weather forecast:

Aside from the flooding, Cape can expect snow before noon and then rain. Winds will be northeast wind 25 to 29 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph - there is a high wind warning up for this morning. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half-inch is possible.

On the bright side, Saturday will be mostly sunny and Sunday partly sunny.

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What's happening off-Cape - Posted: 7 a.m.

Snowfall of 8 to 12 inches was forecast in central Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island by Friday morning, with 6 to 10 inches in Boston and nearby areas.

"We are watching a conveyor belt of wave after wave of snow coming in over the Atlantic," said Alan Dunham, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. "The morning commute will definitely be a challenge," he said, especially for those headed into Boston from the south.

Powerful waves and high winds were expected to cause more trouble than snow.

In Scituate, about 30 miles south of Boston, emergency management officials were worried about getting through Friday's high tide.

"I think that's going to be very dangerous," said Scituate Police Chief Brian Stewart. He said the town had advised people in flood-prone areas to leave during high tides that began Thursday, when no major damage was reported.

Some less severe beach erosion was forecast along the southern Maine coast, and up to six inches of snow in southern Maine and New Hampshire.

In Connecticut, where up to 6 inches of snow was expected by Friday, people were hoping for a break after a snowy winter.